Cape Breton bustles with activity in the summer. The weather is perfect for hiking, golfing or visits to the beach. Visitors flock to its natural and cultural treasures. There's music to be found in every nook and cranny, from Meat Cove to Martinique, from Main-a-Dieu to Mabou.

The winter, though? That's a different story. Most visitors have long since returned home, the music scene slows down, and the residents brace for a long, cold, snowy season. It's beautiful in its own way, but far removed from the warmer weather; the lush, green leaves of summer; and the community halls, concert venues and pubs filled with music 'til the wee hours of the morning.

It was during this downtime that The Lake Sessions album was born. One cold weekend in February, Dara Smith-MacDonald made her way to Adam Young's lakeside home in the tiny community of French Road, on the island's east side. They were joined by Brent Chaisson, a talented guitarist and a wizard of a recording engineer from Prince Edward Island. Together, they recorded a couple of tracks which appear on this album. A return trip over a weekend in April would capture the remaining eight tracks, all recorded live "off the floor" in the old style, with the instrumentalists seated in the same room and in close proximity to each other.

What you hear on this album is exactly what was played during those sessions: it isn't perfect, but it's honest. In an age where most recordings are edited to remove all imperfections, this album embraces them. It's refreshing and authentic, and it allows the listener to feel as though they are in that same house in the woods by the lake, experiencing the music—and the moment—together.